Alcohol problems in a general hospital

Alcohol is a ubiquitous drug which is responsible for a substantial amount of ill health and approximately 20% of patients in a general hospital will have alcohol-related problems, although only 4% win be admitted with alcoho l-caused conditions. Eight per cent of patients, however, can be expected t o have sufficient neuroadaptation to be at risk of withdrawal. This level o f prevalence of alcoholism in general hospital patients requires that hospi tals must become expert at providing good quality care for alcohol-related problems in all areas including obstetrics, but particularly in the managem ent of intoxication, withdrawal and the various alcohol-related diseases. T his paper provides some suggested benchmarks for acceptable standards of ca re for alcohol problems in the acute hospital.